Lagan nu Custard (Wedding Custard)

I had a bit of down time while making the curry for dinner tonight, so I decided to try to whip up a dessert as well. This custard looked reasonably straight-forward (if a bit slow), so I figured I'd give it a go.

Lagan nu Custard

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1L whole (3.25%) milk
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. cardamom seeds (from green pods), ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 1/2-1 tsp. vanilla extract¹
• 3 large eggs
• saffron (optional)
• fresh or dried rose petals (optional)

Directions

1. Bring milk to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
2. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling, stirring frequently, for 35 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, almonds, and vanilla (or other extracts).
4. Set aside to cool for 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F), grease a baking dish (or half a dozen custard cups), and boil some water.
6. If using saffron, sprinkle a few threads into the bottom of the baking dish/custard cups.
7. Once the milk mixture has cooled down, beat in the eggs and mix well.
8. Pour the custard into the prepared baking dish (or custard cups) and place the dish/cups in a pan. Pour boiling water into the pan so that it comes about halfway up the sides of the baking dish/cups.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes (less for custard cups).
10. Remove from oven. Remove dish/cups from bain marie and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
11. Sprinkle a few rose petals on top before serving if desired.

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¹ The original recipe calls for a full teaspoon of vanilla. I scaled it back to only half a teaspoon because I didn't want to overshadow the saffron. Iyer also suggests that the vanilla could be swapped out for mango, pistachio, or guava essence for an even more exotic flavour. ^Back